For the first time, prevalence of HIV infection among antenatal women has dropped to .3 per cent in Krishna district.
“We have been maintaining low antenatal HIV infections for the last four years but this time, it has been officially established by the Hospital Sentinel Survey (HSS),” says T.V.S.N. Sastry, Krishna District AIDS Control Officer.
Mr. Sastry said this was possible due to constant efforts of the AP State AIDS Control Society (APSACS) through different interventional programmes implemented effectively.
Referring to the Society’s Mamta Plus programme launched in 2012 to curb mother-to-child HIV transmission, the scheme envisaged triple drug regimen and mandatory HIV screening for every pregnant woman. Earlier, it was a single drug treatment with Nevirapine.
“The scheme has yielded positive result and the transmission rate has come down. The Government has also altered the drug regimen strategy in January this year to bring down the mother-to-child transmission to zero,” said Mr. Sastry.
As per the new strategy put in place, the mother will be administered HIV medicine from the 14 week of gestation and it will continue lifelong. The newborn will receive Nevirapine drops from the first day of the birth up to six weeks. The baby will be tested at six weeks, six months, 12 months and 18 months.
“After 18 months, if the baby is found negative, he/she remains negative for life which means that he/she has been protected,” said Mr. Sastry.
To reduce stigma associated with HIV testing, every Primary Health Centre in the district has been made a testing centre.
Last year, of the around 48,000 antenatal women tested, 140 tested positive. More than 82,000 people voluntarily came forward for HIV testing. Of them, 3,790 tested positive which amounts to 4.6 per cent, informed Mr. Sastry. A paradigm shift in treatment method and additional care taken at every possible level had helped the authorities bring down HIV positive instances drastically, said Mr. Sastry.
